Accentuate The Positive Geneameme 2023

Each year blogger Jill ,aka GENIAUS, has thrown out the challenge to family history bloggers, to review their year in genealogy and find the positives in their blogging year by responding to given prompts, in a geneame created by Jill. This year is the 12th geneameme and once again, I can’t resist participating.

1. On revisiting some old research I found that over my years of research, I have collected many snippets of information about Haverfordwest, Wales, where my 2x grandparents John TAYLOR and Martha LLOYD were born. I had recently passed on my Axedale One Place Study to another researcher, and had been trying to decide on a new place It came to me that I had the makings of a beginning in my notes.
My new One Place Study Haverfordwest History was then born.

2. In 2023 I hooked up with a new (to me) living cousin: I haven’t made any new family connections this year. 2023 has been very quiet on that front, mostly due to my work commitments. Planning on being more available next year.

3. I’m pleased I replaced a tool I had been using with a much needed new computer and monitor.

4. My sledge hammer did great work on this brick wall: I haven’t used the sledge hammer this year, but I have managed to fill in a few long term research gaps. During the year I have been creating timelines for my direct ancestors. There have been a few instances of these timelines pointing to gaps in my research which needed to be filled, giving me a new research focus.

5. I was pleased that I finally read The Good Genealogist by Danielle Lautrec which has been sitting on my Kindle since it was published. It’s a wonderful book that I will continue to use as a reference.

6. I enjoyed my geneajourney to… I have to say that this year has been very quiet due to work overwhelm, and I haven’t done any actual geneajourneying. I have however geneajourneyed, virtually. I’ve really enjoyed doing a deep dive into Haverfordwest for my One Place Study, learning all that I can, and conducting research for my study.

7. In 2023 I finally met Noeleen who had become known to me as the administrator of the Irish Orphan Girl Facebook page. Our initial contact was online, when she invited me to be guest presenter at the annual commemoration of the arrival in Australia, of the Irish Orphan girls, at the Famine Rock in Williamstown. When we finally spoke by phone, it was wonderful and a big surprise when we discovered that we had a family connection by marriage.

8. I was the recipient of genearosity from fellow family researchers and cousins, Mary in England, and also Graham in Australia. They both read my blog with interest and share stories and photos with me regularly. I do appreciate the connections we have made.

9.  I am pleased that I am a member of The Society of Australian Genealogists. have watched many of their webinars this year, that have been valuable to my research. I have also joined a couple of their groups that have met multiple times during the year. I hope to join in more next year. I haven’t been able to join in live as much as I would have liked, but intend to have more availability in 2024.

10. I made a new DNA discovery – DNA Traits. It has nothing much to do with serious research, and I look upon it only as a bit of fun. However, I did enjoy reading about my traits and thinking about their accuracy. In many instances they were spot on. For example: Introvert or extravert? I was on the introvert end of the scale, which I feel is correct. There were others, that I thought had very little relevance to me. As I said, just a bit of fun.

11.  An informative  journal or newspaper article I found was a lovely detailed report of the wedding of my great grandparents, Ernest Waters and Hilda Mary Beatrice Gilmour. Also, a newspaper report of their Golden Wedding Anniversary with a photo of four generations including myself.
Ernest Waters and Hilda Mary Beatrice Gilmour

12.  A newspaper archive (Trove?) helped me to find articles about my One Place Study, Haverfordwest. Just a reminder to check Trove for information on the far off places, where your ancestors originated.

13.  I enjoyed my wander around Kyneton cemetery. It wasn’t so much a wander but a quick visit on a cold, wet and windy day. The White Hills Cemetery is only a block from my house. I have no family members that I know of buried there, but I often wander through there, when I’m out walking. This cemetery is steeped in the history of the Central Victoria Goldfields.

14. AI was a mystery to me but I learnt that there is a place for it, and it could be useful for family history and other research purposes. I have been playing around with it lately as an experiment.

15. The best value I got for my genealogy dollars was my subscription to Legacy Webinars. I take a subscription every year as I feel it is great value for money and an excellent educational resource. I try to watch at least one webinar each week, but usually more.

16.  It felt good to contribute to the transcribing of Scottish Prison Records earlier in the year.

17. It was wonderful to catch up with genimates. My catching up and connecting this year has been virtual, through social media and attending zoom presentations. I’m very happy that I can keep connecting in this way with genie friends, even if it’s difficult at times to attend an in person event. I attended the All About That Place on line, 10 day conference where I enjoyed reconnecting with One Placers and getting to know more about their place.

18. I wouldn’t be without this technology. It has to be Zoom, which we discovered during the lock down periods of the pandemic. My love affair has continued with it ever since. I live in Central Victoria which is quite a distance from where most genealogy sessions and conferences are held. Before Zoom, I often wasn’t able to attend. I love that I’m now able to conferences that held both in Australia and overseas.

19. I wrote on my blog about Australia’s largest civilian maritime disaster, when the SS Cataraqui smashed into rocks off the coast of King Island, killing 399 people. Members of my Izzard family, from Bedfordshire, were onboard and lost their lives. Wreck of the SS Cataraqui

 19. I got a thrill from opening someone’s eyes to the joy of genealogy. A colleague at work mentioned to me that he would love to find out about his father and grandparents but had no idea how to start. During a lunch break, I showed him how to find information on Ancestry. In that hour we found the deaths of his grandparents and he had a good starting point for research.

20. Another positive I would like to share is: In 2023 I decided that I would like to host a linkup of genealogy/family history bloggers in 2024. This has been in the planning stages only, but will come to reality in the new year.

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